Norwegian stencil artist Anders Gjennestad aka STRØK just opened his newest exhibition at Reed Projects gallery in Stavanger, Norway.
The Gallery space, of app. 50m2, housed impressive canvases of multi-layer stencil pictures that show a photorealistic depth and details that are simply extraordinary. His work challenges the viewer to reconsider our own perspective and perception and his character seem to be frozen in time, everyday situations that awakes our curiosity.
Born in 1980 in Arendal, Anders Gjennestad works in both studio under his own name and on the city streets as Strøk, splitting his time between Oslo and Berlin.
According to the artist the motifs are thematically and physically bound to the wall’s surface and nature, and essentially spray painted through stencils based on his own photographs. The creation process consists then in adding something new to what already exists. More or less subtle changes act as footnotes in a wall timeline.
“His multi-layered stencil work contains extraordinary details creating photorealistic images that play with both our perception and perspective in equal measures. His characters seem to inhabit an alternative universe where gravity seemingly doesn’t exist and time is frozen. Through a tear in reality, the viewer gains a fleeting glimpse of other possibilities, or possibilities of the “other”, physical and supernatural.
Strøk’s characters are often juxtaposed and placed site specifically against the decaying ruins of factory walls, rusted metal and degrading plasterwork, an obvious love of tactile material and the expectation that the characters are about to move on, and the subsequent tension this creates in the viewer, makes for a unique experience in the world of street art.” – Reed Projects gallery
If you have the chance, take a look at the exhibition that will be running until May 31st at Reed Projects Gallery – Salvågergata 10, 4006 Stavanger, Norway.
Below some images from the opening
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
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